DEP official owned natural gas investments

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A high-ranking official at the state Department of Environmental Protection invested money in the natural gas industry for several years.

StateImpact Pennsylvania (http://n.pr/1fATt75) reports Monday that ethics filings show that Jeffrey Logan, DEP’s Executive Deputy Secretary for Administration and Management, owned investments in Cabot Oil and Gas, a natural gas index fund, and Westport Innovations, a major supplier of natural gas vehicle engines. StateImpact is a collaboration between radio stations WITF and WHYY.

DEP spokesman Eric Shirk says the department doesn’t view the investments as a conflict of interest, but that to avoid even the appearance of a conflict Logan no longer has the industry-related holdings.

It’s not clear how much money Logan invested, since forms obtained under the state’s Right To Know Law were heavily redacted.